1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to commercial display refrigerators having glass doors for allowing viewing of merchandise contained within the refrigerator. More particularly, this invention relates to shelving that is employed within commercial display refrigerators on which the merchandise is placed for viewing by the consumers.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, display refrigerators are commonly used in retail stores such as grocery and convenience stores, for refrigerating merchandise such as beverages placed on shelving behind the glass doors allowing the discriminating shopper to view the merchandise while shopping. Once the selection is made, the shopper may then open the glass door and remove the product from the refrigerator.
There exists many different types of shelving. Shelving that is most commonly used for beverages, is tilted forwardly from the back to the front of the refrigerator. Further, such shelving is typically divided into lanes by means of lane dividers, the distances between which are dimensioned so as to accommodate beverages bottled in various type of containers. For example, one lane my be dimensioned for 12 ounce carbonated beverage cans of a particular brand and an adjacent lane for 16 ounce sports drink bottle.
As may be appreciated, as the consumer removes one of the beverages from a particular lane, the remaining beverages slide forwardly by gravity to the front of the shelf. Hence, all of the lanes remain xe2x80x9cfrontedxe2x80x9d with their respective beverages, thereby presenting an attractive presentation to the consumer.
Some lane dividers are formed of a rigid solid material that is injection molded or theretofore with pre-dimensioned lanes for standard sizes of beverages. These rigid lane dividers are then placed on top of the shelf or are integrally formed with the shelf itself. Unfortunately, most of these rigid lane dividers are not adjustable to accommodate different kinds of beverages and therefore are too restrictive to changes in merchandising plans that may occur from time to time. Others include divider plates that can be repositioned to a degree to form lanes. Representative rigid lane dividers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,336, 5,197610, 5,417,333, 5,097,962, 5,050,748, 5,022,535, 4,801,025, 4,785,943, 4,785,945, 4,690,287, 4,454,948, 4,423,818, 5,088,607, 4,416,380 4,565,725, 4,454,949, 5,295,591 and 5,645,176, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
More contemporary lane dividers comprise wire-formed lane dividers that attach to the shelf by various means. Some attachments are fixedly-attached whereas others are adjustable. A representative wire lane divider is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,746, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Wire lane dividers are often employed with a ridged xe2x80x9cslick sheetxe2x80x9d, typically composed of rigid plastic materials with friction-reducing compounds embedded in it, that is placed on the shelf. The beverages are then placed on top of the slick sheet in the desired lanes. The slick sheet more readily assures that the beverages are gravity-fed to slide down their respective lanes to the front of their shelf without sticking.
Unfortunately, wire lane dividers, particularly those that are adjustably-mounted, have a tendency to slide sideways, thereby squeezing the beverages in an adjacent lane and precluding them from sliding forward. Hence, there exists a need in the industry for wire lane dividers that are adjustable to various lane widths yet preclude sideways movement during use.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the shelving art in the field of commercial display refrigerators.
Another object of this invention is to provide a lane divider that may that be utilized in connection with various types of commercial display refrigerators.
Another object of this invention is to provide a lane divider that is adjustable to define differently-sized lanes so as to accommodate the shelving display of differently-sized beverages that are lined-up in their respective lanes on the shelf and are gravity-fed forwardly toward the front of the refrigerator display.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
For the purpose of summarizing this invention, this invention comprises a wire-formed lane divider for commercial display refrigerators. The lane divider of the invention is designed for adjustable use with conventional wire shelving including those employing slick sheets. Thus, the lane divider may be easily installed in conventional wire shelving at different lane widths so as to accommodate differently-sized beverages as may be desired for various merchandising plans. Further, the design of the lane divider of the invention precludes sideways shifting, thereby obviating the squeezing of the beverages in an adjacent lane that would otherwise occur upon such sideways shifting of the lane divider.
The lane divider of the invention, being formed by wire technology, is inexpensive to manufacture due to low tooling and material costs. Moreover, the employment of wire in the design permits the removal of the slick sheet for cleaning and to otherwise allow debris to fall through the shelving to the floor where it can be more easily cleaned up.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.